In addition to giving him a raise for the 2019 season, the new deal that quarterback Tom Brady signed with the Patriots allows him a path to free agency in 2020 by voiding the final two years of the deal at the end of the 2019 league year and barring the Patriots from using the franchise tag.
Brady was asked about barring the franchise tag during a Monday appearance on WEEI.
“Those are some personal feelings and there’s a lot of personal conversations I’ve had that really aren’t for other people’s knowledge,” Brady said. “I think what this is about is this season and dealing with this year. Beyond this year, whether it’s signing five more years, or signing a franchise tag, or not playing, none of those things needed to be decided this year. I think what it was was focusing on this season and being in the right mental, emotional frame of mind to go out there and perform at my highest level.”
Brady said several times during the interview that his focus is solely on this year and added “you control the things you can control” when asked about wanting to finish his career with the Patriots. Avoiding a potential franchise tag leaves Brady with more control about how things play out in 2020.